


The Umbrella Academy of Superheroes.

by unorthodox_anthology



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Invisibility, M/M, Superheroes, Telekinesis, Telepathy, cute people being cute, some weird shit with a pineapple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-26
Updated: 2013-02-26
Packaged: 2017-12-03 15:44:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/699890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unorthodox_anthology/pseuds/unorthodox_anthology
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gerard Way was special.</p><p>Gerard knew this – he’d known this since he’d turned thirteen and he started to flicker in and out of visibility. It freaked him the fuck out the first time it happened. Chilling in your room, jacking off and them BAMM! You’re invisible. But once he got over the shock, he had his mum enrolee him so he could attend the Umbrella Academy – a school for people from around the world who had ‘gifts’ the same as Gerard’s, gifts that made them supers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Umbrella Academy of Superheroes.

**Author's Note:**

Gerard Way was special.

 

Gerard knew this – he’d known this since he’d turned thirteen and he started to flicker in and out of visibility. It freaked him the fuck out the first time it happened. Chilling in your room, jacking off and them BAMM! You’re invisible. But once he got over the shock, he had his mum enrolee him so he could attend the Umbrella Academy – a school for people from around the world who had ‘gifts’ the same as Gerard’s, gifts that made them supers.

 

And so, Gerard had attended the Academy with his brother Mikey (who was a Class Three emotion manipulator) and studied a very different high school education than his ungifted counterparts. Subjects like Villain Phycology, Biochemical Engineering and Computer Hacking. Which was great, because Gerard sucked at Maths.

 

And then there were the powers. Gerard, being a massive comic-geek even before he started attending the school, was in awe of array to talents the school displayed. From lowly Class 5 cloth manipulators – who were great super-suit makers – to the powerful Class 2 shape-shifters, Gerard felt like a geek who’d been given free-reign of a library of limited edition Grant Morrison comics.

 

Gerard was a weak Class 5 invisibly user – weak only because 1) he couldn’t really control when he’d flicker in and out, though it had something to do with his anxiety, 2) he couldn’t maintain being invisible for extended periods of time and 3) he couldn’t extend his power to his clothes, so it looked like his clothes were just hanging in mid-air. Therefore, he was weak.

 

That doesn’t mean Gerard wasn’t grateful. Fuck no, he _so_ was. Sure he got bullied for being a “useless fiver” – Bert always snickered when ever he singed the back of Gerard’s neck in Citizen Duties 101 with tiny shocks of lighting, roughly three times a weak, someone stole his lunch and Otter always shoved him into his locker when ever they passed in the hall.

 

But Gerard survived by waking around his dorm-room in his ratty-old Smashing Pumpkins shirt and boxers, watching himself blink in and out of visibility and thinking _I DO belong here, because I’m special_.

 

And that’s how he’d survived the past four years, by thinking about how lucky he was to have even a weak gift, about who he might be able to help once he left school. And about whom he got to be partnered with as their sidekick (because he obviously _wasn’t_ going to be selected for hero).

 

Gerard _seriously_ hoped it was Frank. Even though Frank was shorter than almost everyone else in their year, he had some _strong_ powers. Like _seriously_ strong. He was a Class Three telekinesis, Three super-strength, a Four mind-reader (only powerful enough to pick up on super strong thoughts), and a Five energy producer. He was one of the most powerful in their year, along with Ray Toro, a Class Three Sound-bender and minor Telekinesis (Gerard’s only friend) and Bob Bryar, a Class Two Illusionist.

 

Gerard may or may not have a crush on Frank (see: _definitely_ ). He couldn’t help it, not really. Back in the first year, Frank had defended Gerard from a meteor strike in the First Year Obstacle Course. Gerard didn’t get pummelled by the meteor, but _did_ get pummelled by Frank’s ridiculously good looks, and harboured a pathetic crush since that day. It was terribly cliché – Frank was the school idol, and Gerard one of the endless streams of losers.

He’d watched Frank run through a stream of endless relationships (Danielle, Victoria, Greta, Pete, Brendon, Vicky, Jenny, Carmon, Ryan, Simon, Isabelle, Haley, Adam, Avery, the list went _on_ ), heard endless praise from teacher’s who believed completely that Frank had hero potential and rounds of gossip in the common rooms on bets who was going to be partnered with him (odds were high for his ex-boyfriend Isaiah and super low for Gerard, who couldn’t even believe that someone had _thought_ he’d even have a chance).

Gerard just endured, wishing and hoping, and knowing it would never happen, looking forward to and dreading the Day of Magda.

And then that day arrived, and Gerard felt hot and cold all over.

Magda was a 103 year-old blind Class 1 psychic. Super powerful, so much so that she wasn’t even completely human. But she was famous for pairing up the heroic pairings of Thunderclap and Striker (who had prevented a total of thirteen assassinations), Zeus-monger and Serpent (prevented countless tropical typhoons and cyclones) and Animalia and Junior (a Mexican duo who doubled as the inspiration for the original Batman and Robin – Animalia had a bat affinity).

Magda had chosen every single partner ship in since the First World War, and since then, there have been no complaints form either side (given that sometimes he paired up wicked villains). She’d also been the one to decide which partnership went on the coveted missions in their fifth year, instead of doing regular study.

She was standing at centre of the stage, looking like the fabulous age of 35 she certainly was not, her glowing fingers were dancing over the pages of names, pulling out names and telling her partner next to her, who was recording the pairings with a pen he wasn’t touching. The auditorium was silent when she paused over the last pair, her face pinching in concentration.

Once she was done, she stepped back and smiled, taking a seat next to the Chairman. The Principle stood up and stood in front of the lectern with the list of names. His eyes glowed yellow as he cleared his throat.

“You have spent your past four years here at the Umbrella Academy training and studying for you future as a super. Whether you are a hero or a sidekick, it doesn’t matter, you are a super and you have a duty to perform to your fellow citizens. I hope that, when you graduate this spring, that you do this school, your city, and yourself proud in your endeavours.

“Now, our Lady Magda the Foreseer has chosen this year’s pairings. Now remember two things – Firstly, that if your name is not called, it doesn’t mean that you have no partner, just that they’ll be in the next year group. If you are one of those people, you’ll be given a partner in six months time. And secondly, you cannot, under any circumstances, change you partnership.”

The room seemed to tense with his words, a few girls in front of Gerard fretting in whispers about whether or not they’ll get an ugly partner.

“When I call your name, please come forward. I will start with the students who have been given the honour of going on a quest, which starts tomorrow.”

The crowd rippled as the collectively leaned forward in anticipation.

“Robert Bryar and David Jones”. The two boys walked forward and collected a manila folder of their mission, then headed through into the side room.

“Bert McCracken and Jepha Howard”. Bert and a kid with dirty blonde hair stepped up.

“Isaiah Noir and Ashlee James”. The room ran a murmur of ‘ _but then who’s for Frank?_ ’ Gerard could see him, two rows and three seats in front of him. He looked focused, tense.

The list went on, the Principle calling out pairs until he’d reached the twentieth and final duo. Magda leant forward.

“Frank Iero Jr and”, the room paused, the air thick with anticipation, “Gerard Way”.

There was a collective gasp from the crowd, heads swivelling in their sockets to stare at Gerard, the weak little Fiver who’d been paired with the hero prodigy. And all Gerard could think was _at least someone made a hell of a lot of money on that bet_.

He didn’t remember standing, didn’t remember moving towards the front of the room, didn’t remember taking his brief, nothing until he caught Frank’s eye. Frank looked at Gerard with bright eyes, something dark flickering in their mossy depths, and he cracked a crooked grin that made Gerard’s heart stop.

“Hey partner”, was all Frank said, and it made Gerard think that maybe he was going to spend the rest of his life in his own personal blue-balls Hell.

 

~*~

“Too fucking early”, Frank groaned into the cushions, early the next morning, his face partially visible underneath his mop of dark hair, soft and messy in a way that made Gerard want to rake his fingers through it.

Instead, he giggled, getting up to find some coffee.

“Black, no sugar!” Frank shouted, before giggling.

“Fuck you”, Gerard replied, struggling to get used to Frank’s mind reading. Hopefully he wouldn’t pick up on his massive crush on his partner. _Partner, Jesus fucking Christ._

When Gerard returned, alas coffee-less, he found Frank pulling the fruit from the bowl across the room, using his telekinesis. Gerard could practically see the bands of energy that pulled the fruit through the air.

“You’re really good at that”, Gerard commentated, flickering when Frank turned his eyes towards him. Frank smirked.

“Catch”, he said, before sending the orange hurling towards Gerard’s face.

“Shit, fuck!” Gerard exclaimed, ducking out of the way and catching it with his hand in a bizarre series of movements he would not be able to replicate again.

“Dude, that’s fucking trippy”, Frank grinned, nodding towards Gerard’s invisible hand that was holding the orange, his blue energy flickering along the edges. Shyly, Gerard went visible again, but blinked out when Frank sent another fruit his way. And another. And another. Pretty soon they were both laughing, dodging the fruit that Frank flew at Gerard, and Gerard hurled back at Frank.

Eventually, Frank tried to pick up the pineapple, and hurled it in the direction of Gerard’s hanging clothing. Gerard blinked into visibility just for a second, but Frank caught his eye and the pineapple suddenly dropped to the ground.

It was silent as Frank stared at the fruit, before he picked it up and tossed it in the bin. “Must’ve lost concentration”, he said, before heading through the door that lead to his cabin, his fingers glowing a faint green.

Gerard blinked, then scurried of to his own room. He picked up a flashlight from the armoire, watching his blue energy pulse.

Frank was right. It did look pretty cool.

 

~*~

 

It was a long flight from New York to their destination in the Pacific, so when Gerard woke up, he was immediately disorientated until he remembered the past 42 hours. He smiled when he remembered his partnership and then had a strong urge to shower, because his hair was gross and he probably smelt (not because he wanted to look nice for Frank, _of course not_ ).

The bathroom on their jet was communal, but seeing as there was only Frank and Gerard on the plane, there were only a few sets of towels. Gerard could see Frank’s bag of toiletries sitting by the sink, a pink lady-razor sticking out the top. Gerard giggled.

The shower was impressive. Massive and shiny, one wall in each individual glass cubicles was lined with buttons and dials, and the floor was a dark blue marble, with thin white veins crawling across its surface. Cautiously, Gerard reached out and touched one of the buttons, then jerked back as the water poured out of the ceiling showerhead.

Gerard felt a little awkward about showering, because the whole room was glass, and faced the door no less, but he sighed and stripped down, turning invisible before he stepped into the water.

It was intriguing, the shower, because Gerard had never showered invisible before, so it was weird to see the water clinging to his skin, seeming to hover and float, running in streams down thin air. The soap looked really weird too, streaks of bubbles and foam lining his skin. Slowly, Gerard started to feel more relaxed, and became visible again, which turned out to be a bit of a problem, because he was so wrapped up in his _amazing_ shower, that he didn’t hear the door creak open.

“Hey Gerard, we need to get ready soon to –“, Frank stared at Gerard, before Gerard squeaked and turned invisible in a flash, stepping out of the water so it didn’t stick to him so noticeably.

“Gerard?” Frank asked, his voice a little shaky. “Gerard, dude, I’m sorry – I um – Are you –“ and then Gerard went totally still because he felt something brush up against his mind, like a feather on the inside of his skull and that _had_ to be Frank, and Gerard gasped and tried to back way, but ended up pressed against the glass. But Frank kept nudging and pushing and much to Gerard’s horror, his defences shattered and the feather sensation was all over his mind. He concentrated on remaining invisible, staring at Frank, who looked confused and then…smirking? Oh fuck, no, _no,_ he had _not_ found out, had he?

But then the feather was gone and Frank was lifting his arm and twisting his wrists and all the towels flew of the shelf and into his grasp. Grinning like the devil, he slowly backed out of the room, eyes glinting, staring in Gerard’s general direction. When Gerard realised what he was doing, he yelped, stepping out of the glass space, shouting, “Frank! Stop it, come on – I need those, dammit!”

Gerard shook himself like a dog, flinging droplets of water everywhere, but he was no less saturated, the water-cooling on his skin. Gerard slowly padded out into the main room, where Frank was standing, still smirking like he knew something Gerard didn’t.

His eyes flickered around curiously, which meant he couldn’t see Gerard. Then he turned his gaze to the ground, and saw a small puddle of water underneath Gerard’s feet. His smirk grew wider and he let the towels hover above his palm, saying “Come on Gerard, come and get them” in a teasing voice.

Gerard couldn’t honestly believe that this was his reality. He was stark naked – invisible, sure – but naked all the same, in front of _Frank motherfucking Iero_ , who waved towels at him from across the room. Seriously, this partnership thing was turning out to be far more than what he’d expected. But hey, what’s the worst that could happen while you were invisible, right?

Gerard made a growling sound, making Frank’s smirk grow even larger, and he stepped forward, not onto the regular floor, but onto the noodle-thread rug, Frank watching his foot-impression in the fabric. When he stepped off, his watery footprints had been completely absorbed. Frank giggled. “Clever boy, Gee”, before flicking his eyes up to search the air for Gerard’s tell-tale shimmer of blue energy.

Gerard focused on not emitting anything, concentrating on staying 100 per cent transparent, but then this weird sensation overcame him, and suddenly the room span and Gerard was everything and nothing. He could see Frank, a bright light of energy, made up of hundreds of floating particles, the towels, long continuous threads woven together, the floor, a dense collection of dark shapes. And Gerard – he was part of it all. It was kinda surreal, watching your own body dissipate, merge into all the things, moving through them, between the particles, yet still remain in the shape of his body.

“Ah-ha!”, Frank yelled, reaching out with his left hand, and _shoving it through Gerard’s chest._ Oh my god, what the hell! That never happened before, dematerialisation was _not_ one of his powers, those were Class Three at least!

Gerard panicked slightly and it all came crashing like an internal tidal wave, Gerard suddenly flickering back into solidity, then visible, then winking back out of sight. But Frank had caught sight of Gerard’s split second flash and reached out with his retrieved arm, his palm landing on Gerard’s chest. Shit.

Frank’s hands were _warm_.

Gerard squeaked and jumped between visibilities again. Frank smiled, splaying out his fingers. “Dude, this is so trippy, like, you’re not there, but I can _feel_ you”, Frank said in a low voice, shifting his hand up, tracing over Gerard’s invisible collarbones before Gerard squeaked again, jerking a towel from Frank’s grasp and wrapping it around himself. Slowly, he shifted from transparent to translucent, stepping away from Frank’s warm fingers. Frank’s arm dropped down to his side.

It was quiet for a second before Frank asked, “So what happened before, like you disappeared, not like, invisible but-“, he paused, waving his hands in a sweeping gesture, “-like you no longer existed”.

Gerard was stunned. He’d dematerialised to the point where Frank could no longer detect him? “Uh, well, I kinda – like, maybe, I dunno, ithinkidematerialised”, Gerard mumbled, rushing the last part out in one syllable.

Frank’s eyes grew wide. “Dude, seriously? Dematerialisation? Really?”

“Does it look like I know, I’m a Fiver, that wouldn’t even make any sense”. And then Frank was silent and Gerard was silent and things were kinda awkward and Gerard just wanted to do whatever he just did so he could not exist any longer because Frank was an impressive Class Three and Gerard was a loser Fiver. And then, just because he had no brain-to-mouth filter, Gerard blurted out,

“You’re an asshole for stealing my towels”.

Frank frowned, then grinned, then laughed, a loud pot giggle that made Gerard smile. “Yeah, sorry, I shouldn’t have really, but hey, you dematerialised!”

“Yeah, whatever”, Gerard mumbled, gripping the towel tighter around his waist. There was a crackling sound and then a voice called out over the intercom. “All passengers, please locate to the landing bay in 10 minutes, thank you”.

“Guess I gotta change”, Frank said, who for some reason which Gerard did not know, had an ink stain on the front of his shirt. It looked vaguely like a stylised blob.

“Er, yeah, I’ll just, um”, Gerard mumbled, shuffling over to his room. Frank jumped after him and ran his fingers through Gerard’s wet tangles, pulling lightly and said, “I’ll knock next time”, before he disappeared through his own cabin door.

Gerard hurried into his room, where he chucked his towel at his chair, which knocked a lamp into a broken inkpot, but Gerard _did not care_ because he was frantically jerking off to the shockingly amazing feeling of Frank’s fingers tugging at his hair.

 

~*~

 

“I’m surprised that Magda chose you of all people to accompany Frank”, the brunette lady in front of Gerard said.

It was the day after they had landed on the island in the middle of the Pacific. The island facility owner, Pete Wentz, who had skin that subtly shifted between colours, had welcomed Frank and Gerard with an impish grin. They were then shown into a massive suite with two queen beds, upon which Frank leapt upon and promptly fell asleep. Gerard on the other hand, may or may not have watched Frank sleep for a few minutes, taking in the relaxed posture on his usually expressive face and the way he snuffled every so often as he breathed.

Gerard freely admitted he was a total creeper. With a sketch book.

When they woke up the next day – Gerard could have sworn Frank was looking at him when he woke up – they were told that suit stylist Beau Goshi was here, already planning on the designs of the pair’s suits. After shovelling down a breakfast of facon BLTs (Gerard had long ago forgotten when he learnt that Frank was a lactose intolerant vegetarian), they were sent into separate rooms, where they were to be fitted.

And that’s exactly where Gerard was now – being fitted by a woman who had no sense of tact.

The lady – Seraphine Dart, Goshi’s assistant – was a Class Five cloth manipulator, as well as a Class Four Telekinetic. It was pretty awesome, watching her weave the fabric of denim out of a single swatch, change the colour of the leather, and make the cotton dance through the materials, creating seams.

But when she was finished, Gerard wanted to _die_ because there was no way he was ever wearing something that tight in front of _Frank._

The pants were skin-tight black denim, hugging every visible curve in Gerard’s legs, making his ass look huge. The shirt was slim-fitting, tapering slightly at Gerard’s waist, highlighted by the horizontal stripes that represented an abstract version of the American Flag, complete with navy strips and pale stars. It was a far cry from Gerard’s usual get-up of dark hoodies and jeans, ripped at the knee.

But what made Gerard braver was the fact that there was some sort of component in the fabric that let his entire outfit turn invisible alongside him. He wasn’t really sure how that worked, and he didn’t really care – it just meant that he didn’t have to zoom around naked all the time as he followed Frank on his escapades.

When he met up with Frank after the fitting for lunch, he nearly swallowed his tongue, because _holy fuck_ no one should ever be allowed to look that fucking sexy. The dark blue pants were neatly sliced in the knee, tightly hugging the curves of Frank’s legs. His shirt was bright, a bold red sleeveless that showed off the few tattoos he had, with a design on the back that looked distinctly like one of Gerard’s drawings. And sure enough, Frank was clutching Gerard’s ratty sketchbook.

Frank smiled when he saw Gerard, and plopped down into the seat next to him. “You look good”, he said, grinning widely as he looked Gerard up and down, his gaze making Gerard shiver. He managed a quiet, “You too”, before Frank handed back the book, saying, “Sorry I took it, I just saw that drawing of the pumpkin and I really liked it and Goshi said I could put it on the back”. Gerard nodded shyly, internally freaking out because Frank liked he pumpkin drawings, and all out panicking because Frank might have seen the slightly stalker-ish sketches of Frank sleeping.

“You boys look wonderful”, Pete said grinning, his happy voice calling across the room. “Goshi does do the finest work, especially for the new-age supers.

“Now, I hope you are up-to-date with our situation here on the island?”

Gerard nodded. He and Frank had read the brief together while they travelled from landing bay to the main house. It was mostly a bunch of mumbo-jumbo about artificial intelligence, solar energy and biomechanics, but from all of that, they gathered that there was a rouge self-sustaining robot running rampant in the eastern side of the island, where the forest was.

“Okie-dokie then. Now, the delivery pod sets off in half an hour, so I’ll quickly give you a few extra facts. One – this is a learning robot, so the longer you fight it, the stronger and more able it is in defeating you.”

“Disable the mechanics quickly”, Frank nodded. Pete smiled.

“Also, this is a very expensive piece of machinery. Our promoters might be _a bit_ upset if we blow up the thing, so please do it cleanly”.

“Don’t blow it up”, Frank said. Pete grinned and clapped his hands.

“That should be it. I sincerely wish you boys the best of luck”. And with that he was gone.

 

~*~

 

The walk to the pod was a sombre one, Frank with his head bowed, lips moving soundlessly.

They didn’t speak until they were securely locked inside the pod, shaking as it made its circuit around the island’s delivery tracks. Frank coughed.

“Uh, Gerard?” he asked, his voice shaky. Gerard looked up from where he was twisting his hands.

“Yeah?”

“I really hope it doesn’t happen, but just in case we die, I want you to have this”, Frank mumbled, before he leaned forward, eyes half-lidded, and slid his mouth over Gerard’s.

Gerard gasped, his hands hanging in mid-air.

He was being kissed. For the first time in his life. By Frank. _Frank Iero the boy he’d been secretly crushing on for four years oh my god oh my god oh my god_. His heart was gonna explode.

Frank started to pull back, but Gerard’s hand was at Frank’s neck, tugging, a quiet whine parting his lips.

Frank sighed happily and pushed closer, sliding a _warm_ hand over Gerard’s shoulder, up his neck, resting just below his jaw, the other threading itself in Gerard’s hair. Gerard felt _boneless_ , sighing, then gasping, as Frank’s tongue traced feather-light over Gerard’s bottom lip before slipping inside, past lips and teeth and _oh my god_ Gerard nearly cried from how perfect it was.

There was a loud hiss of hydroponics and the dull clunk of the door being opened, a soft echo as it hit the forest floor. Frank peeled away from Gerard, his lips slightly swollen and red and _oh my god Frank just licked his lips._ Gerard was gonna _die_ before the mission even _started_.

 “As much as I seriously love this right now-”, Frank said, his voice quaking slightly, “-we really gotta go not-blow-up that monster outside”.

Gerard giggled and smiled shyly, watching as Frank’s eyes went from that flickering darkness he’d seen back at the school auditorium – which he now recognised as _lust, oh my fucking Jesus_ – and switch to a focused determination.

After they straightened out their clothes and traded one or four small kisses, they headed out, into the exaggerated quiet of the forest. Even the birds seemed to be silent. The soundlessness was freaking Gerard out a little, so he flickered out, his whole body and suit disappearing.

Frank looked a bit pale, so Gerard grabbed his hand, squeezed it and said, “Lets go kill this son of a bitch”. Frank grinned and squeezed back.

They ran through the forest, over small creaks, fallen trees and rotting logs. Frank slowed to a stop.

“I can hear it”, he whispered. “Like, it’s thoughts, but it’s just like numbers and random English words. It’s strange, it feels really damn close but –“

Gerard couldn’t explain it really, what made him leap to the left, dragging Frank down with him, but he’s so glad he did, because it was that exact moment that a crack of gunfire echoed out through the air and a massive metallic body rose into the air right in front of them, clicking it’s pincers.

Frank blanched. “Why the fuck did they make it a massive spider?”

At any other time, Gerard would have told Frank about his irrational fear of needles, but he was trying to dodge giant pincers and spindly iron arms that shouldn’t have been able to carry that machine’s weight. It’s glowing red eye darkened as it focused on Frank, making a series of clicking and snapping noises before stalking towards it’s prey.

“Run”, Gerard said firmly, shoving Frank left, while he went right, becoming fully opaque, which succeeded in confusing the spider momentarily. It was enough to left Frank get behind the thing and make a giant leap, jumping up and using the surrounding trees as a springboard to land on the spider’s back. Frank frowned before shouting, “the hatch must be underneath!” before he leapt off, into a tree.

Gerard dashed about, running at full sprint, the spider now choosing him as a target, flickering in and out of vision, which made the machine halt in the middle of its run, before picking up again once it spotted Gerard. Frank was busy leaping from branch to branch, following the chase until Gerard managed to loose it, completely confusing the machine. Gerard hunched over behind a tree, wheezing as his tried to catch his breath.

Frank silently padded underneath the monster, while it made a series of clanking noises, as if it was annoyed for having lost it’s prey. It’s eyes suddenly darkened, and it lifted one leg, poking underneath its body, jabbing Frank in the side, sending him sprawling. After a split second of calculating beeps, it understood that it had to keep all eight legs on the ground to maintain its balance, so the only option left was to drop down.

“No!” Gerard screamed.

. Gerard didn’t know exactly what he was doing but suddenly he was under the spider with Frank, clasping tightly at his hand saying ridiculous stuff like “I really fucking love you, Frank, just so you know”.

The spider dropped down suddenly and Gerard squeezed his eyes shut before every fucking bone is body was crushed, and then rage, fear, love and pure fucking _energy_ flooded Gerard’s body and he opened his eyes and he wasn’t dead.

 Instead, there was a blue translucent dome over them, swirling with Gerard’s dark blue energy and shot through with bright shocks of what had to be Frank’s. The spider was dropping down, making Gerard’s body shake wildly, but the dome kept reflecting it.

Gerard’s body did a violent spasm, which made Frank keen in worry, but Gerard steadied himself, adding another layer of light to the dome. He went inwards, making itself invisible, and then further – he didn’t exist anymore. He was just another collection of fragments, pieces, parts and particles, all moving, vibrating between others, maybe millions of others, next to Frank’s hot energy and warm substance, the spider’s cold body.

Except it wasn’t really a spider anymore.

It wasn’t even a machine anymore. It was a giant collection of angry and confused particles, bouncing off the unmoving shell that Gerard presumed was the shield. And right in the middle of the machine was a bright gold light, a pulsing, shifting mass of energy, extending out into the body.

Gerard reached out and touched it, feeling his own particles warm, heat up with the amount of pure fucking energy being radiated from its centre. It kinda felt like…

Gerard twisted and was stunned. Right next to him, lying on the ground, facing Gerard’s indistinct form, was Frank. And his whole _entire body was on fire._ The place where his heart was, it was so bright, too bright to look at, but it leaked out, spreading through Frank’s entire body and filling all the gasps between his being with liquid energy.

The spider slammed down again, and Gerard felt his fragmented self quiver.

Reaching out, Gerard brushed against Frank’s light, and was swamped by the emotions and energy and movement and _everything,_ funnelling that energy through him and into the spider’s body. Gerard felt Frank fall limp against him – which was a weird sensation in itself – and pushed hard against the spider’s light, using Frank’s fear, anger, happiness and _love oh my sweet Jesus_.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, which caused Gerard to panic a little, but then the whole thing shifted – moved from the inside of the body and shifted through the shell, hovering outside the body. Gerard sighed – or the equivalent for his not existing body – and dropped the core.

It thudded to the ground. Gerard watched as the spider’s interior circuits short out, the removal of the power source causing havoc. And slowly, the light died, ceasing to function, which in turn made the monster of a machine stop working, collapsing to the side, glancing off Gerard’s shields.

And then it was over.

Very slowly, Gerard became Gerard again, letting his pieces rearrange themselves into his Gerard-shaped puzzle, become a visible solid. His head was pounding, the forest was spinning and he couldn’t feel his arms. He thought he was going to die.

“Gerard”, Frank rasped, leaning over him, face drawn and shaken. “Gerard, how – how did you –“

Gerard just shook his head a little, his vision tunnelling to Frank’s face. Gerard’s voice felt too dry, too sore, broken, and his vocal chords didn’t want to cooperate. He tried to turn invisible at his weakness, but he couldn’t even flicker.

“Gerard”, Frank whispered, grasping Gerard’s face and leaning in close. “You saved us. You saved _me_ ”.

Gerard closed his eyes. It was all too much. Everything. He just wanted to disappear.

Frank whined. “No, come back”, and then there was such _softness_ on Gerard’s lips, and his heart stuttered in his chest, and Gerard could hardly find it within himself to move back. All he could think was _at least I’ve kissed Frank before I die._ He was certain he was going to die – he was losing his glow, energy.

So, Gerard parted his lips minutely, and gave the last part of the energy he had taken from Frank back to him. He’d used the rest of it to help remove the robot’s core. He’d used it all, he realised. He’d used it all up and had no time to replenish it. He could see the machine’s inner-mechanisms in his head, the throbbing light and failing circuits flickering over the backs of his eyelids, and Frank’s lips were _so soft_ , just cushioning his descent and then he was gone.

 

~*~

 

_“That’s impossible, he’s a Fiver”_

_“Well he’s obviously not, I fucking witnessed that force field and I’m not_ that _fucking imaginative”._

_“Force fields can still be classed as Five”._

_“I’ve seen Fiver-fields, and this was not one of them.”_

_“Then what about the dematerialisation? Why didn’t the Academy pick up on that?”_

_“Fuck if I know, he said it happened for the first time on the fucking plane ride here!”_

_“Surely not”._

_“Why would I lie?!_ _People would_ kill _for that power, fuck, he could bring people back with enough training!”_

_“But he’s just a Fiver!”_

Gerard was 100 per cent sure of exactly two things. One – his head was pounding harder than ten hangovers at once and Two – there was a really warm hand in his own. He was more interested in the second than the first, so, with quite a bit of effort, he opened his eyes a fraction, squinting in the light.

Frank was leaning over him, grasping his hand with both of his own, and glaring at the doctor who was on Gerard’s other side, who was wielding a _fucking giant needle OH MY FUCKING GOD._

Some sort of primal instinct took over and Gerard grabbed some energy from Frank’s core – which made Frank gasp – and fucking threw that needle _away,_ pushing it and everyone – except Frank – away from the bed he was lying on. Someone screamed and one of the voices from before shouted,

“That’s a fucking force field alright”.

Frank looked relieved and terrified at the same time. “F-Frank”, Gerard croaked, blinking. Frank’s face softened.

“Gee, you need to calm down, babe, the doctors are here and they’re trying to help you”, Frank said, leaning down over Gerard’s face, looking _so caring_ as he smoothed back Gerard’s hair. Gerard was just about to say that no, they were not going to help, they were gonna stick _a massive fucking needle in his arm_ , but Frank had swooped down and placed his mouth over Gerard’s.

And just like that, Gerard’s brain shorted out and the shield stuttered. The needle-welding people leapt forward and sunk their pointy needle-tips into Gerard’s skin, and not for the first time, the amazing softness of Frank’s lips carried him into his unconsciousness.

 

~*~

 

_Six months later:_

Gerard had recovered from his ‘extreme energy depletion’, only loosing the feeling in his left pinkie toe, which he was totally okay with. He’d seen Mikey and Ray momentarily – he was only slightly pissed when they announced their relationship – and apparently Lady Magda had come in and spoken to Frank while he was asleep.

And that was the best part of it all – that Frank was right there, perched on the edge of his bed, every single time Gerard woke up. And today was like any other.

Gerard woke up to Frank seated between Gerard’s splayed legs, leaning back against Gerard’s chest, and flicking through Gerard sketch-book.

Even in a caffeine-deprived state, Gerard knew exactly that Frank should not see whatever creepy-ass drawings Gerard had sketched, which were most likely of Frank. Sleeping. Fuck.

He jerked a sleepy arm forward and _almost_ scored the book back, but Frank giggled and leant forward, out of Gerard’s reach.

“Morning sunshine”, Frank said, looking over his shoulder and grinning stupidly at Gerard. Gerard groaned and scrunched up his face, reaching for the sketchbook again.

“A-a-ah, Gee!” Frank teased, leaning further way, yet somehow deepening into Gerard’s arms, pushing his hips into Gerard’s, which momentarily made Gerard freeze. Frank giggled and fell back onto Gerard’s chest.

“You’re a wicked artist Gee”, Frank said, flicking through the pictures with one hand, the other gently thumbing the back of Gerard’s hand. It was such a soothing thing that Gerard forgot what he was supposed to be stopping Frank finding the drawings that he just did _oh shit._

But Frank wasn’t freaking out. He was smiling against the back of Gerard’s hand, teeth pressing against the knuckles. Frank giggled and mumbled something that sounded like, “I look _pretty_ ”.

“I think you’re more than pretty, Frank”, Gerard murmured into Frank’s scalp, pressing a soft kiss there. Frank sighed, relaxing further into Gerard’s hold and everything was so perfect Gerard was going to cry.

 There was a moment of quiet as Frank contemplated the drawing, the only sound a quiet ‘ _shick_ ’ of Frank’s hand running over Gerard’s skin.

“Fuck it”, Frank muttered suddenly, shifting and twisting and then all up in Gerard’s space, his pretty face leaning in, stunning Gerard.

“Do you know exactly when I feel in love with you, Gerard?” Frank whispered, eyes wide. _In love?_ Gerard shook his head, eyes wide.

“It was our first year at the school. Day one, in fact”. Frank had the audacity to look shy. “You’d just walked in the door to the auditorium, looking all awkward and cautious and half the time you’d just disappear because you were so nervous. And I just…couldn’t look away from you.

“You were…I dunno, stunning I guess”, Frank said, settling his weight over Gerard’s hips _oh my god_. “You have these _eyes_ Gerard, just, like, _big_ , and emotional and sensual, and the moment I saw them, I felt like I was falling into an abyss of beauty, _and I didn’t care_. And your _hands_ , god, they’re so _pretty_ ”, Frank sighed, taking hold of one and threading his fingers though Gerard’s. “Slender and pale and delicate and so much like you, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from falling for you if I tired”.

Gerard opened his mouth to tell Frank to stop, stop talking like he was whispering the world’s darkest secrets, because his heart was going to explode, but Frank pressed on.

“And then you fell down by the meteor range, and you looked petrified and I just had to help you, like, I felt compelled, deep in my chest, to help this incredibly stunning boy”, Frank said, bringing Gerard’s hand up to his chest and squeezing. Gerard was going to cry, and then his heart would _explode_.

 “Ever since that day, I followed you around like a stalkerish lost puppy. I couldn’t help it, you were just so interesting and funny and beautiful that you help my entire attention captive. And that really scared me – that my one weakness was a love I couldn’t control.

“I tried, poorly, I’ll admit, to stop it, because it was effecting me so deeply, like, right in my _soul_. I dated countless amounts of other people, people who were plain, boring, anything _not_ like you, but it never worked. That third year was particularly difficult – you just sat at the back of Biomechanics, being all alluring and shit and I nearly failed that class, because all I wanted to do, ever, was just turn around and kiss you senseless. At one stage, I thought that if you were a mind-reader, I’d be completely fucked”. Gerard giggled, and Frank glanced up from their entwined hands, and Gerard’s heart ached, because Frank’s eyes were so full of _everything_ , it was just too much.

“And then Magda decided to shove the most phenomenally attractive guy every into my life, with a permanent contract, and I thought some asshole had managed to combine Heaven and Hell, because you were just the most beautifully tempting thing”.

“Are you calling me a temptress?” Gerard blurted, then blushed because Frank laughed and smiled and kissed him softly.

“You have never really been anything but”.

Gerard felt boneless, warm and fucking _in love oh for the love of Jesus’s left testicle HE WAS IN LOVE goddammit_ and it was the singularly best feeling he’d ever had.

Gerard reached out and hauled Frank upwards, towards his lips and smushed them together, hard and rough then soft and gentle and just too much yet not enough and he blurted it out, a straight up “I love you so goddamn much Frankie, fucking hell”, before his eyes crossed with how _fucking amazing_ he felt.

Frank smiled, a full-tilt fucking beaming grin and he laughed, looking happy and carefree and in love, tears trickling out of the corner of his smiling eyes.

“I love you Frankie, I love you, so gorgeous, I goddamn love you more than anything in the whole universe, fucking anything that’s bigger than that, I’d love you more, I fu –“, Gerard didn’t get to finish his ungraceful tirade because Frank’s face was up against his again, realising a sound akin to a sob, grinning widely and whispering declarations of love back at him.

 

~*~

 

Once the pair arrived back at the Academy, they discovered that they were school-heroes. Rumours and gossip had spread like wildfire, ranging in ridiculousness, like Magda had paired up wrong ( _utter bullshit_ ) to Gerard having rigged the pairing ( _again, bullshit)._

But all the rumours were quickly cleared up with an in house presentation – Otter was _not thinking at all oh my god_ and thought, sure, it’d bee a great idea to shove Gerard into a locker, especially when his partner is around.

Frank was just about to go into a flying fit before Gerard threw up a force-field around them, blocking Otter out and keeping them in. Gerard heard the people in the hall gasp. Frank calmed down almost instantly and placed a hand lightly on Gerard’s arm, which he raised to point at Otter, palm out. Otter paled.

The field only flickered for a second before Otter’s clothes _shifted_ , moving through and off him, into a soft pile by his feet (Gerard let him retain some dignity and left his underpants). Otter had blushed bright red and threw a deadly look in Gerard’s direction, to which he responded, “You want me to take of the boxers too?” Frank giggled.

And after that incident, Gerard was never shoved into lockers and the school knew he was a Class Three Dematerialiser and Class Four Shield-user as well.

Frank and Gerard also spent their time between testing Gerard’s power’s limits and testing Gerard’s _other_ limits. It was a weird mix of training and _training,_ massages and _massages_ , stretching Gerard out and _oh sweet Jesus, Frank was so good at stretching Gerard out, holy shit._

When the pair were not enjoying each other’s company, they were hanging out with Mikey and Ray, who were paired up only a week or so ago, chilling out in Ray’s dorm, because he had a shit-ton of B-movies and let Frank jam on his Les Paul. As it turns out, Ray had been hiding a power from Gerard, at the school’s request – a Class Two Seer, _holy fuck_ – and it was he who had placed a bet on their pair. He gave the money to Gerard – $400! – and  Frank had laughed, pressing a kiss to Gerard’s jaw.

And on the day of their graduation, after receiving their super-names – Frank was Fun Ghoul, phonetic fuck you in Italian (for his heritage) and Gerard was The Ghost, because of how he moved through things – Frank kissed Gerard, in front of the entire school. Gerard flickered out for a moment before becoming so visible he didn’t look real. He giggled against Frank’s oh-so-soft lips as he felt a feather tickle the inside of his skull. Frank laughed back and murmured “God Dammit I love you Gerard Way. You’re amazing”.

“I love you so much Frank Iero, and you’re _incredible”,_ Gerard whispered before leaning back into those addictive lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the lovely Laura (laurassblog.tumblr.com)
> 
> This is basically a fan-fic of a fan-fic, We are Incredible, and I have written what I think should/could/would have happened. I don't intend to plagiarize.


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